Gold and silver stocks soar

Biggest daily gains since May 2000

By

DeborahAdamson

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Gold and silver stocks on Tuesday staged their biggest daily gains in more than two years, propelled by rising prices in the precious metals, a weaker dollar and a faltering equity market.

The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index
XAU, -1.30%
rose 7.5 percent to close at 77.96, the largest increase since May 2000, according to Topline Investment Graphics in Boulder, Colo. The Amex Gold Bugs Index
HUI, -1.26%
was up 8.1 percent to close at 136.73, the highest in a month. The CBOE Gold Index
$GOX
added 6.4 percent to close at 62.42 Tuesday.

Among the producers: Anglogold
AU, -1.44%
was up $2.09, or 7.8 percent, to close at $28.79. Agnico-Eagle Mines
AEM, -0.85%
rose by 90 cents, or 6.2 percent, to close at $15.52. Barrick Gold
ABX, -0.86%
added $1.09, or 6 percent, to close at $19.54.

Goldcorp
GG, -1.48%
rose by 88 cents, or 8.9 percent, to close at $10.78. Meridian Gold
MDG, +5.11%
tacked on $1.19, or 7.1 percent, to close at $17.92. Harmony Gold
HGMCY
was up $1.95, or 13.2 percent, to close at $17.92.

ASA Limited
ASA, -0.86%
added $2.25, or 6.9 percent, to close at $34.99. Gold Fields
GFI, -12.80%
rose by $1.57, or 12.9 percent, to close at $13.78. Glamis Gold
GLG, +0.57%
tacked on 73 cents, or 8.3 percent, to close at $9.52.

Hecla Mining
HL, -3.39%
was up 46 cents, or 11.1 percent, to close at $4.61. Coeur d'Alene Mines
CDE, -1.49%
rose by 14 cents, or 7.8 percent, to close at $1.93. Apex Silver
SIL, -0.23%
added 90, or 5.9 percent, to close at $16.10. Pan American Silver
PAAS, +0.97%
was up 61 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at $8.55.Silver Standard
SSRI
tacked on 58 cents, or 9.5 percent, to close at $6.68.

Gold for August delivery tacked on $4, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $316.50 an ounce. The contract rose as high as $316.70 an ounce intraday. Gold futures last hit a high on June 4, reaching $331.50, and have drifted as low as $310.50 since then.

September silver was up 7.8 cents or 1.6 percent to settle at $5.058 an ounce. Comex silver inventories added 348,000 ounces to 106.5 million.

"Gold continues to take its direction from (currency) and equity markets, both of which continue to look a little shaky," according to a report by UBS Warburg. "Silver looks set to trade higher in the near term barring any U.S. dollar strength or slump in gold."

The dollar fell vs. the yen and the euro, which hit a high of U.S. 99.40 cents earlier in the day. See story.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.45%
fell by more than 178 points to close at 9,096.09. The Nasdaq Composite
$COMPQ
lost 24.49 to close at 1,381.12, while the S&P 500
SPX, +0.64%
slid 2.5 percent. Pressuring the market was a Merrill Lynch downgrade on the chip sector and the dollar's weakness. See Market Snapshot.

In other metals: September copper was down 0.05 cent to 76.15 cents a pound. Comex copper stocks rose by 1,798 short tons to 358,922.

October platinum slipped 10 cents to stand at $513.50 an ounce while September palladium rose by $2.15 to $325.15.

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